Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Canyon, Niagara Falls and Mt Fuji perhaps being scored in the 9s or 10s, maybe the Tsuken
Carrot is a 0.001. Nonetheless, it's still kind of cute.
On account of Tsuken's proximity to Okinawa and its frequent ferry service, many people
visiting the island will make it a day trip. However, it is possible to spend an enjoyable night
or a weekend. There are two side-by-side waterfront
minshuku
inns just under a mile (1 kilo-
meter) from town. They share a wide sandy beach on the Nakagusuku Bay side of the island
and offer all the marine activities one might desire. The larger of the two, with about a dozen
rooms, is called Kamiya-sō (
神谷莊
; phone 098-978-3027) and runs about 5,500 Yen per per-
son. The other is smaller and a little less expensive. It also has campsites available with run-
ning water and hot showers. Sites go for 1,000 Yen. Either place will pick you up at the Marine
Terminal when you arrive if you call ahead and make reservations.
Tsuken had a small role during World War II. During the Battle of Okinawa, the island
was staged by the Japanese Imperial Navy as a first line of defense of the Okinawa mainland.
It consequently became a site of bloody combat with many casualties. In town there are sev-
eral memorial stones with the names of the dead engraved on them. At war's end, the island's
residents were forced to move to the Haebaru area of Okinawa. They were not allowed to re-
turn to their homes until 1950.
Visitors can walk to Afuiwa, a tiny islet of the northeast corner of Tsuken Island, at low tide.
On the northern end of Tsuken there is a large deserted beach and just across a short
channel is another tiny spot of an island, Afu Rock. Let's go there.
AFUIWA
(
アフ岩
; Afu-iwa). This dot of an islet is only 740 feet (225 meters) of the beach
at the northeast corner of Tsuken. You can walk there in about knee-level water at low tide
or swim at high tide. Afu Rock is around 500 by 820 feet (150 by 250 meters) in width and
length. It's uninhabited and perhaps a little dangerous. There's a fair amount of fused, rusting
ordnance sprinkled about, what looks like to be a few batches of unfired 120 mm shells. It's
